Corrupted Desires
by thesecastlewalls
Summary: "It's not about betrayal, Spencer, it's about revenge!" Spencer Hastings was finally about to get a little slice of revenge, but she didn't realize how high the price had been set. AU. Spoby. Season 3 rewrite.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well hello there! It's been awhile, I believe. Like, as in this time last year I was posting the first chapter of That Stupid Blind Heart of Mine. Good times, good times. So, the formalities: if you don't know me or recognize me, I'm Emily. I'm blonde, I love Taylor Swift, and today I pulled this amazing prank on my friend since it's April Fool's an all. Let's just say it involved a fake DM and a lot of tears after. But anyways, I want to quickly dedicate this story to the person who inspired this, you know who you are. I hope you all enjoy !**

* * *

She likes to believe she's doing this for the reasons she should be doing this for, but she knows it's not the case.

She wants to let herself believe that she's in it to find a thing or two out, for the greater good, but she'd be a liar if she said she'd once thought about anyone else other than herself since she got into this predicament. Someone somewhere once said that when you started being selfish, it was the beginning of a spiral downwards. Spencer knew if that was the case, she was already in free fall down the rabbit hole.

Slowly pulling up the zipper on the black hoodie, Spencer let her eyes stray from the mirror out of the corner of her eye. She found it easier to do all of this when she didn't have to look at herself staring back, her conscience sitting there and screaming at her to wake up and smell the damn roses. This was nothing more than mindless, self-destructive behavior. She heard the sound of the door closing softly behind her, another black hooded figure standing in the mirror. "You're late," she deadpanned.

* * *

Everything was black and fuzzy, except for the throbbing coming directly from her head. Spencer woke in a state of confusion, gently touching the side of her head to feel where the pain was coming from. She didn't know where she was, all she knew was that her head was killing her. Her eyes adjusted to the sight in front of her—the blackness of the night and the painted lines on the road flying underneath her. And then it all came flooding back. Mona was A.

Looking over, she saw Mona sitting there in the driver's seat; her lips pursed shut, in the black hoodie. It made everything more real to see Mona sitting there in the black hoodie next to her, finally matching the menacing entity with a face.

"I had to get you out there alone so we could talk," Mona drawled as she jerked the wheel, the car spinning around a curve. Spencer's heart was racing inside of her chest as she tried to remind herself to stay calm. A, Mona, whoever was an animal, and they could probably smell fear as well.

"Okay," Spencer breathed, keeping her eyes on Mona's hands. "Let's just slow down, okay? Let's talk." Flattening herself against the seat as Mona made another sharp turn, Spencer's breathing became louder and much more obvious.

"You had to earn it, the right to be a part of it," Mona continued on cryptically, confusing Spencer. Earn the right to be a part of what?

"You didn't see Ali in Brookhaven. She saw you, didn't she?" Spencer accused in a low voice, her eyes flitting back to the road. They were soaring, the sound of the tires skidding around the curves audible. She straightened herself up a little as they went around another curve. "You just made that story up."

"We're in this together now." The smirk on Mona's face was visible even hidden behind the slight outline of the hoodie that blocked her face.

"I admire you, Spencer," she continued, jerking the wheel back. "That's why you get to decide how this ends tonight. You can join the A team." A pause, and then, "Or you can disappear."

Spencer took a deep breath, trying to figure out what had just been offered to her. Out of all the ultimatums Mona had given her over the weeks of torture, this one was the one that made her heart sink into her stomach. It was join the sick, sadistic fun or die. Her hands shaking, she dialed Aria's number and put it on video call, praying her friend would answer.

"You almost killed Hanna, she's my friend; I thought she was your friend too," Spencer said, her voice cracking slightly.

"It's easier to forgive an enemy than it is to forgive a friend."

Spencer shook her head, trying to swallow the lump in her throat down. "How did you do it? How could you be everywhere? You were always one step ahead of us." Looking over at Mona, her stomach did another back flip at seeing the sight of Mona in that hoodie.

"You're not the only genius in this car." Mona then looked over at Spencer, her eyes locking with hers. "You bitches underestimated me." Spencer watched as Mona smirked yet again, her foot pressing harder and harder on the gas. She barely got a good look at the sign they were passing by as Mona sped past.

"We are never going to make it to Lookout Point if you don't slow down." The words left her mouth right as Mona rounded another curve, and Spencer looked down to see that the call had been lost, her phone finally succumbing to a low battery. She slid it slowly underneath her leg, it digging into the bottom of her thigh as she looked over at Mona.

"Is this some kind of payback? Because we let Ali treat you like that?" Spencer asked, her voice rising in octave. Mona dismissed that quickly.

"I am so over Ali, I told you. She was never my friend, but Hanna was. And you bitches took her from me."

"Is this about _betrayal_?" Spencer heard herself echo in disbelief. She had a white knuckle grip on the side of the seat as she looked over at Mona, bewildered.

"It's not about betrayal, Spencer, it's about revenge!" Mona shouted back at her, her eyes darting away from the road to glare at Spencer. "You deserved everything you got." She watched as Mona straightened herself back up behind the wheel, adjusting her grip. Then, under her breath, Mona seemed to go back to being a version of her old self. "You stole my only friend," she muttered.

"Mona, she is still your friend!" Spencer pleaded, her voice growing louder. Mona simply stared back at her, the malice glittering in her eyes before she turned her attention back to the road. "Okay, so what's the plan?" Shaking her head, Spencer swallowed nervously. "I mean, A always has a plan, right?"

Glancing back at the other girl, Spencer could see the look on Mona's face had changed. "Yes, she does," Mona said, the teasing hint in her voice enough to scare Spencer straight.

The car jolted around another corner, and Spencer instinctually straightened out against the seat once more. "So what happens if I don't join the team?" Her voice was small and quavering slightly as she dared herself to ask the question.

Without looking over in her direction, Mona replied. "Melissa doesn't have your dad's gun. I do." Shivers ran straight up Spencer's spine as she stared out the front windshield in horror.

The next question that fell out of Spencer's mouth was even more daring than the first. "And what happens if I do?"

Mona looked over at Spencer, her teeth gritted as she turned the wheel harder than she had their entire drive. "Then in the next twenty seconds, show me how good of a liar I've made you," she said flatly, a smirk on her face.

Twenty seconds was all it took.

* * *

It had been a peaceful summer.

Classes at Hollis, spending time with Toby, going for coffee with her friends, not jumping every single time her phone rang; it was a kind of life that Spencer knew she could have gotten used to. There was no looming threat of A, since Mona was locked away in Radley, but for Spencer, the threat had simply turned into nothing more than another part of her life. It didn't feel like a threat so much as it did a job. She followed her orders and she was left alone. It was like immunity in her mind; being on the inside and knowing the master plan, but not being burned by it.

She didn't have to do as much as she would have thought when she agreed to put on that black hoodie. It was simple really; her orders were to keep an eye on things, keep check on Mona after the medication swap and to make sure that her secret stayed under wraps. No one could know about the conversation she and Mona had in the car, no one could know who she was taking orders from, and no one could know that she was even involved in this. Spencer had always been one of the best liars out of their group, and it wasn't hard to weave a little story about the pieces of the conversation they'd missed during hers and Mona's drive up the mountain.

Summer was almost over though; and Spencer had a gut feeling that things were about to flip onto their head. She was always kept in the dark on big plans until the last minute, so her reactions were genuine to the situation, but she was always aware of what was really going on. Spencer hated getting the cryptic orders the most, but she figured that something was better than nothing and still being trapped in the dark, blind and clueless like her friends.

Occasionally, when she'd look at her friends, she felt a pang in her heart. She didn't like lying to her friends, but she knew that she'd done it before and that it would happen again. They were all guilty of it, and if they found out, they'd never understand the whys of her getting in this deep. Spencer knew what she was doing and as much as she loved her friends and their support, she didn't need them tagging along and trying to help her out. They'd get in the way.

Spencer Hastings didn't like to consider herself selfish, but ever since pulling that emergency break up at Lookout Point, she'd been nothing but.

* * *

Spinning around, Spencer folded her arms over her chest and stared at the other black hoodie in the room, a ski mask over their face. "Do you not know how to read a text?" she snapped, picking the phone that was specifically reserved for A purposes only just to bring it back down on the table for emphasis. "You were supposed to be here at 9, not 9:25."

The other person in the room didn't say anything just grabbed Spencer by the arm and dragged her out to the car that they had driven to the Lost Woods Resort. "Hey, what the hell," she muttered, struggling in their grasp. They didn't budge, just held the door for her on the way out. Spencer had spent a great deal of her time in the old lair, sitting there and recreating it on her old laptop. She was still stunned at how much stuff had been in that small room. There were years' worth of stuff crammed into one little area, and after they disbanded it, it all went to different locations. Spencer was trying to put it all back in one spot for her own sake, so she could maybe find out a few things for herself. Maybe opening her mouth and snapping at her partner had been the wrong decision, but it was too late now. She was already in the passenger seat, the driver climbing in and pulling off the minute their door was shut.

Their ride was silent, Spencer drumming her fingers on the armrest of the car. There were about a hundred questions running through her mind, but she didn't dare open her mouth. If this was who she was working for, if this wasn't just another person who was on Mona's payroll, then she was in big trouble. Just because she was on the A Team didn't mean that she knew everything about everything, and there was still a lot she didn't know, didn't have a clue on, and a lot still hanging over her head. She was no saint now that she was on the A Team, and she certainly wasn't the devil's favorite demon either.

They finally arrived at a small diner outside of town, a place with very few parking spots that most of which were occupied by motorcycles. Spencer climbed out of the car, bee lining for the restaurant and not bothering to look at whomever it was following her. She'd always been a little headstrong, and being a part of something this devious and evil definitely brought out more of that particular trait. Something about wearing that black hoodie gave a sense of power and authority, almost.

A bell chimed above her head as she pushed open the door, seeing an empty booth in the back of the room. She still hadn't bothered to turn around to see who was following behind her, instead, she was just trying to get to the most secluded part of the room where no one would point and make a spectacle out of her. "Hey there pretty eyes," Spencer heard a woman say from behind the counter, but she was unsure of who the hell she was talking to.

Sliding into the booth, she rested her hands down on the table and watched as the other person sat down in front of her. "Okay, would you like to explain to me why the hell you just kidnapped me? We were already in private," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I wasn't taking my chances with what I had to say to you being interfered with," the voice said quietly, and Spencer's head snapped up at the sound of it.

There was no way.

It couldn't be.

_But it was._

No longer with a ski mask on, Spencer found herself staring into the eyes of none other than Toby Cavanaugh, _her_ Toby, in the same black hoodie that she was in.

Well, this was awkward.

* * *

**A/N: I know, I realize I'm an awful person. But have faith in me. In case you were wondering and confused by all that, this is basically going to just be one big what if, as in _what if Spencer told Mona yes on that ride up the_****_ mountain_** **and it's going to be a huge season 3 rewrite. The only other hint I willingly give you is Bonnie and Clyde. That's all. Please review if you liked this, otherwise I'm going to pretend to be Troian and DM you. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Since I'm on spring break and I really don't have too much to do (it's cold, rainy and windy, so what else is a girl supposed to do?) I figured I'd update this for you guys. Hope you enjoy the…awkwardness that shall entail after this ends. :)**

* * *

Spencer did everything she could to protect him. She thought that she'd tried and succeeded to some degree, but now that she was sitting here in front of him, she knew that she'd ultimately failed. Here he was in the same predicament as her, in just as deep if not farther. In a way, things began to click in her mind, making more sense than they had with his sorry, half-of-an excuse justifications for all of his away jobs and constantly having to leave her. She'd been there through it. She'd made the same decision. But yet she found herself shell-shocked, unable to part her lips and say something, anything really, to him.

He seemed to be in the same fish-out-of-water state, staring at her as though he really couldn't believe his eyes. Then again, he had known it was really her ever since he grabbed her back at the lair, and he'd had time to adjust to the sight of her in that black hoodie, throwing away everything that he'd done, seeing her give her own self up for the slaughter. Seeing her there in the black hoodie, laying eyes on her face, it made it all the more real. He didn't know what kind of mission this was, because Spencer Hastings was never not on a mission, but this one was a suicide mission at best.

"Spencer," he finally breathed out, his voice shaking slightly as he finally found the ability to speak.

Her voice was nothing but a watery, wavering sigh once her eyes latched onto his. "You're Mona's helper," she whispered, her voice barely audible as she took in the sight of him.

"Don't think of it like—"

"You were the one helping her torture us for this long? It was you who gave Emily that massage, you who helped her get Ian out of the bell tower, you who did all of those things in spite of me when you told me that you _loved_ me?"

"Spence, please," he implored, reaching out for one of her hands that she'd rested on the table. No sooner had he extended his did she snatch hers back in retraction, obviously hurt by this revelation. "Listen to me. I never did this to spite you. I'm only doing this to protect you and keep you safe. If I had an agenda, don't you think I would have killed you by now?"

She doesn't know what kind of question that's even supposed to be, or if he even wants her to answer that, so Spencer chooses to stay quiet. Toby then cleared his throat rather awkwardly, lowering the hood on his own hoodie. "I never gave Emily that massage. I didn't get Ian out of the bell tower, I wasn't even there. Mona wouldn't tell you this, but she herself doesn't even know who took his body out of the bell tower, or who even pushed him. Spencer, I love you and none of that has changed. I'm doing this for you so you stay safe. Please, please believe me."

"So it was you sending me those texts? You were the one who's been calling the shots, giving me orders?" Spencer asks, her voice a wounded whisper yet again. Toby shakes his head.

"No. I've been getting the same messages. If I would have known you were even a part of this before tonight, I would have gotten you out here sooner."

"Well, congratulations, you've found out yet another dirty secret of mine, along with the hundred others that Mona's probably let you flip through the catalog of," Spencer snapped bitterly. Toby's blue eyes were still staring into hers, desperately trying to capture her attention so she would listen to some rationality and make sense of what was actually going on.

"This is not safe for you," he warned, gravel resting in the depths of his throat. "You don't understand how dangerous all of this is. If you make one wrong move when you do this, if you so much as show that you're not playing for their team—"

"And how do you know that I'm not playing for their team?" Spencer cut him off, her hands slamming down on the table as she leaned forward slightly to face him. "Do you not know what it's been like to be on the other side of this, to live in fear of all of this for so long? I know what the risks are. I don't need you telling me what games are too scary for me to play; I can figure it out for myself.

"Why do you think the brakes got cut on my car? Why do you think I fell from that scaffolding and broke my arm?"

"Because I got too close. I didn't keep you safe; I didn't keep you away from me like I was supposed to." Spencer's voice was small as her eyes flitted to her hands, trying to avoid his gaze.

Toby shook his head. "No, Spencer. You're not thinking. You think that this was some ploy to keep you scared straight, to keep you from doing the things that A didn't want for you to do. The brakes didn't get cut on my car to scare you, it was because I got too close. It was punishment for falling in love with you. That scaffolding didn't get cut because you kissed me, it was because I kissed you. I knew what you were supposed to be doing; I had to pretend that I didn't love you so I didn't put you in any more danger."

His words fairly mimicked what he had told her that night of the masquerade ball. "Pretending not to love you was the hardest thing I've ever done…" she muttered under her breath, finally realizing what those words really meant. Her head lifted to meet Toby's expecting eyes. "So all of those things that were supposedly torture tactics for me were your punishments?"

"Mona didn't fully believe that I was on her side at times. I got sloppy. She caught on. She's not stupid, Spence, she had eyes everywhere. She knew that we were still seeing each other and when she knew that I was pushing to defy the orders she'd given you, she punished me for getting too close to her dolls. Mona didn't like it when people took the game from her."

"So what does she say about all of this?"

"You've seen the meds they have her on in Radley. She's not doing much speaking these days. I'm not sure if she knows what's going on or not."

"Mona has no idea who's in charge now, then?" Spencer asked again, and Toby nodded in confirmation. The warming up to him that she'd found herself gradually doing went away altogether and was replaced with a nice layer of frost. "How am I even supposed to trust you?"

"I know you don't believe me when I say that I'm in this to keep you safe—"

"That's an understatement—"

"Really, Spencer?" Toby snapped, and she was shocked to hear him make such a short remark like that. It startled her slightly and sent her back upright, sitting frigid opposite him. "Why are you in this, then? What made you decide to throw away all of the freedom you worked for from the monster just to jump right into its arms?"

"It's not about betrayal. It's about revenge."

* * *

They set a plan down on the table in the diner that night, establishing what they were going to do to stay safe, stay undercover, but more importantly, stay one step ahead. Toby knew that in the end, all Spencer wanted was her revenge. She just wanted a chance to get Mona back for all the hell she'd been put through, regardless of who was in charge anymore. Toby promised her that she would get it, only if she promised him that she would keep her trust in him and not question anything that he did. She knew that whoever it was in charge of the game, they couldn't possibly let them think that they were in it to do anything but torture the other girls. Spencer had heard that she was a fairly good actress; it wasn't about lying anymore. It was about putting on the best performance of her life.

They had made sure one thing was very, very clear between the two of them—no more secrets. This was not the time to start lying to each other and sneaking around, especially with the both of them within the devil's grasp. It had been rather hard for Spencer to make that promise to him; he was about as loyal as a Labrador and would have no issues keeping up his end, but Spencer knew ultimately that she needed to keep Toby safe. It didn't matter who he was playing for, she needed to keep him safe from A and the danger that came along with A.

The endgame that the two of them came to an agreement upon was simple—Spencer gets her revenge on Mona, A is shut down for good, to ultimately make sure the girls stay safe, no exceptions. And after that, they'd hang their black hoodies up and they'd continue on with a peaceful life together.

Tricky thing about it was, you can't go into something like this and not expect to get your hands dirty. Being on the inside gave the scarily heavy amount of power in her hands, and what are you supposed to do with that power, that force of nature just sitting there, waiting for you to use it?

You take advantage of it, of course.

* * *

The plan was set and now it was all only a matter of time before it was all set into action. Toby hovered behind her in the mirror as she adjusted her sweater so it wasn't out of place. Just because she'd gone rogue didn't mean that she'd lost the perfectionist edge to her. "You know what you have to do?" he questions, making sure that she's clear on the plan.

Spencer nods, looking at him through the glass. "You promise that you'll find out what you can?" she returns, and Toby shakes his head as confirmation. He walks up to her, encircling her in his arms with his hands resting over her stomach, fingers locked together. A soft smile spreads across her lips, and it gives her a sense of normality, like they're not about to go and rob a grave or anything.

"Stay safe," she whispers, leaning her head backwards to rest against his own that is currently perched on her shoulder. He just nods, tilting his head slightly to press his lips along the expanse of her neck. The flask is sitting on top of her purse, and she knows that whatever's in it, she's not to drink from it. That's the only way she'll even stay awake tonight, and if she falls asleep, then its game over and there are bound to be some sort of repercussions for it. Whoever's giving orders isn't going to be happy if she bails out on her first real task.

"Hey," he finally says after a moment of silence with his lips lingering there on her skin. "No matter what happens tonight, I love you."

"Nothing bad is going to happen tonight," she says, attempting to convince herself of that more than she is him. "We're A. We're on the winning side for once."

"Just because we're being bad Spencer, doesn't mean we're going to win."

Looking him dead in the eye through the scratched up glass on the mirror, she sets her lips into a straight line. "Maybe being bad is what it takes to win. Maybe being bad means we get all the answers first and that we know the shortcuts to cut ahead." She smirks as she turns around, one of her eyebrows lifted. "We've got the upper hand."

"Slow and steady wins the race," Toby reminds her.

"Not if you don't know which way you're running." It was in that moment that Spencer Hastings really understood why she was doing all of this. It wasn't to keep her friends out of harm's way. It wasn't about the answers; there were plenty of those waiting for her in the lairs and in the many connections she now had when it came to that black hoodie. It wasn't even to keep Toby safe. It was just like Mona had said on their little drive up the mountain; there was nothing to do with betrayal in this. It was all about the revenge.

Toby chuckles slightly, fixing his grip on Spencer's waist as he pulls her closer to him. "You know, I think you look much sexier with the black hoodie on," he muses. She's not wearing her usual uniform; she's donning a pink sweater, something more typical. After all, she's just going to sit around with the girls until the real show happens.

"Mm, is that right?" she retorts playfully, biting her lip. "You're saying that you're attracted to the idea of me being bad?"

"That's exactly right." Toby finally removes the rest of the space between them, capturing Spencer's lips with his own. The two of them move like clockwork against each other, just like they always have it seems. There is something different about the kiss however; it's darker, it's more delicious, it's teasing in a way. And Spencer loves it.

She finally parts their lips, her forehead pressed against his. "I'll see you later?"

"Later," he confirms. Spencer holds onto that.

**. . .**

She's never seen any of her friends in such a state, but Emily is completely fucked up. Spencer can see her from across the graveyard; her eyes are drooping, her movements are slow, and the way she drags the shovel behind her is slow and sloppy. The MZM in the alcohol really did her over, and that was putting it as nicely as she could manage.

Her goal was to not be seen. Not even Toby knew that she was going to be here tonight; a secret she kept from him even after their pact to eradicate the art of keeping secrets between them. She was supposed to be keeping an eye on the other girls, making sure that they stayed asleep. Their drinks weren't drugged, but Spencer had prayed the amount of alcohol they'd consumed would leave them asleep. If they woke up and Spencer wasn't there, everything crumbled apart. Watching from behind one of the taller graves, she kept deathly silent to make sure everyone she knew was coming was accounted for. Emily 's standing at the front of Ali's grave, in hysterics as someone—more than likely Toby, he was the only one who was capable of opening a grave with a crowbar physically—yanks the casket open.

"What are you doing?" she screamed. "No! Stop! Stop!" Toby springs up out of the ground, grabbing her and taking her backwards. Spencer knows that Toby will come to her tomorrow when he's at her house, the guilt covering his face. He doesn't want to have to grab Emily like that, hurt her; he's overly protective of her, right after Spencer. But he has to do what he has to do. They all do. Emily's head turns in her direction as she twists and screams in Toby's grasp, and for a second, the chilling terror that she's been seen runs down her spine. _Emily doesn't know you're here, so calm down. Emily has no idea._

She high tails it out of there before the other girls have a chance to wake up.

* * *

_**The body's in the safe place. Come by tomorrow to get the jewelry. –A**_

* * *

**A/N: I hope this gave you enough action to satisfy your little Spoby shipping hearts. Like it says in the description, this is a Season 3 rewrite, so everything that you think you know, don't trust it for this story in particular. What did you guys think? Why do you think Spencer didn't tell Toby she was going to be at the graveyard that night? Who do you think they're actually taking orders from, if it's not Mona? I'd honestly love to know what you guys think! Please leave a review, or Spencer will drug you with MZM and force you to do so. xo **


End file.
